Clutch.



B. H. PENN.

GLUTGH.

APPLICATION FILED 00w. 8, 1910.

1,007, 1 39. Patented 001;. 31, 1911.

2 SHEETS-$311131 1.

" aau x W COLUMBIA PMNOGRAPH CO. WASHINGTON, D C.

B. H. PENN.

CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8, 1910;

1,007,139, Patented 0017.31, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

BERTRAM H. PENN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

Application filed October 8, 1910. Serial No. 585,922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, -BERTRAM HARLEY PENN, a subject of His Majesty theKing of Great Britain, residing at 3 Flanders road, Bedfork Park,London, England, engineer, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Clutches; and .I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Many forms of clutches have hitherto been devised to transmit power fromone shaft to another, or from a shaft to a pulley, spur wheel or thelike. The operation of such clutches depends upon pressure exerted bysprings or otherwise to keep two or more surfaces in close contact,whereby the friction set up causes those surfaces to move or rotatetogether and thereby to transmit power or motion from one to the other,but if the power should be for a period in excess of the friction, thesurfaces slip, whence the full power is not transmitted, or the clutchhas to be made excessively large to render it capable of transmittingthe maximum power to which it may be put.

The above disadvantages are overcome in part by a known form of clutchconsisting of balls or rollers which may be wedged between a frictionring and inclined surfaces and actuated by an axially-moving inclinedsleeve which presses inclined blocks forming the wedging surfaces,radially outward but this form can only be operated in one direction andrequires pressure to be continually exerted to keep the clutch engagedand further, if the parts are in motion the load can only be taken upsuddenly or with a jerk. These disadvantages are overcome by myinvention which I will now proceed to describe.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation and Fig. 2 a crosssection of a clutch according to my invention as applied to thetransmission of power from a revolving shaft to a spur pinion or thereverse; Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a modified form of clutchwherein catches are employed to hold the clutch members engaged, thecatches in this figure being shown as disengaged; Fig. 3 is a similarview showing the catches as being engaged; Fig. 4 is a sectionalelevation of a further modified form showing the catches disengaged;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the catches engaged; Fig. 5 is avertical sectional view of a clutch illustrating a modified form ofpawl; and Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary detail views of further modifiedforms of pawls.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, S is a shaft, and P a pinion or spur wheel,set upon ball bearings as shown at A and A the bearing at A being of theusual form with the balls contained in a cage or otherwise and providedwith hardened steel bushes or races B and R, secured respectively to theshaft and pinion. WVhen the clutch is disengaged that bearing at A -alsoacts as an ordinary ball bearing as shown in the drawing. The bush orrace B is keyed to the shaft and the outer bush or ball race member R iskeyed or. otherwise secured to the pinion or the like and provided withnecessary mechanism for the clutch as follows :-Shaped pieces ofhardened steel which may be described as pawls, shown at D are insertedin similarly shaped recesses in the member R The pawls are provided atone end with the semicircular portions shown which fit intocorresponding portions of the recesses of the member R to act as hinges.At the opposite end of the pawls a slot is provided in which a flat orsuitably shaped piece of spring steel is inserted, one to each pair ofpawls, tending to press the latter outward or away from the shaft.Opposite each pair of pawls a hole is provided in the member R and ballsG inserted, portionsof which project beyond the outer periphery of themember B when the pawls are in their normal position as shown by thedrawing. An annular cone member C is keyed to the pinion or the like atK and is pressed in a direction away from the pinion by laminated orother suitable form of springs shown at L and may be provided on 1tsinner surface with grooves, a portion of which are mclined and whichreceive the projecting portions of the balls G.

F is the female member of the cone clutch and is keyed to the shaft atK. I

T and T are bushes to take the thrust during the action of engaging anddisengaging the clutch.

M are pieces of tube threaded upon the shaft to keep the various partsin their respective positions.

The operation of the clutch is as fol- 'lows:-The spring L when releasedpresses the member F toward the member C when on engagement the twomembers move together toward the pinion or the like, depressing thesprings L which exert a pressure on the member C but are not as strongas the spring L This engagement of the members G and F caused by theopposite pressures of the springs L and the spring L sets up frictionbetween the said members suflicient to take up part of the load or powerto be transmitted. The continued movement of the members C and F causesthe tapered portion of the grooves to depress the balls G andconsequently the pawls D are depressed inward or toward the shaftthereby contracting the passage for the balls A and causing those whichare nearest the pawls and moving toward them to wedge between them andthe bush 13 when, the ball race member R and consequently the pinion orthe like revolve with the shaft and the full power is transmitted. Whenthe member C is pressed home, the above mentioned tapered or inclinedportion of the grooves passes beyond the balls G and the latter areretained in their engaged position by the further parallel or horizontalportion of the said grooves thus relieving pressure on the actuator dueto the pressure of the balls G acting upon the said tapered or inclinedportion of the grooves.

Many modifications of the arrangement described above may be employed,for example Fig. 3 shows in sectional elevation a form in which rollersA are substituted for the balls G Figs. 1 and 2 and the secondary ballbearing shown at A is rendered unnecessary.

Referring to Fig. 3 the race member R contains the pawl mechanism but isalso shaped to form a disk, to which the pinion, spur wheel, pulley orthe like may be bolted or otherwise secured. The member C? is providedwith projections or prongs N which pass through holes provided in thedisk portion of the member R a certain portion of the inner surfaces ofthe prongs being inclined as shown at M to act on the balls G andconsequently the pawls as previously described. Screws K" or othersimilar arrangement may be provided to limit the movement of the memberC The action of this form of the device is as follows :'The actuator Twhich may be provided with a ball thrust as shown, is moved along theshaft with the male member F which may if preferable be the femalememher, in a direction toward the pinion or the like, when the members Cand F by reason of the pressure of the spring H engage, and take up partof the load or power to be transmitted until the inclined surfaces M onthe prongs N depress the balls G and consequently the pawls D whence asdescribed in the previous case above, the

clutch is fully engaged and the pinion or the like is locked on theshaft. To relieve the actuator T of pressure when the clutch is engagedcatches or hooks shown at V may be provided which engage with catches Xwhen the clutch is fully engaged, as shown by Fig. 3". To release thesecatches, a backward movement of the actuator causes the cam Y on theinner surface of the member F to engage the cam Z on the end of thecatch V thus. to release the hooks and consequently the member C and toallow the clutch to disengage. Springs U may be provided to keep thecatches in their normal posit-ions.

A modified form of the clutch which may be employed to connect twoshafts placed end to end is shown in sectional elevation by Figs. 4 and4t" in which case the race member It is keyed to the one shaft and therace or bush 13* keyed to the other. The member C being keyed to themember R and similarly to the member C shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a certainportion of the inner surface of the member (1" is inclined to depressthe balls G though as shown by Fig. 4L the grooves shown on the innersurface of the member C Figs. 1 and 2 may be dispensed with. A ballthrust bearing may be provided at IQ. In conjunction with this form ofthe clutch a means is shown for the whole of the mechanism to work inoil, by reason of an extension 13* of the member F to which the saidextension is bolted as shown, and the provision of packing glands O andQ} the whole forming an oiltight case. Also similarly to the form of theclutch shown by Fig. 3 catches V kept in position by springs U may beprovided to take the pressure off the actuator T when the clutch isfully engaged as shown by Fig. 4:. To release the catches a backwardmovement of the actuator T causes the cam Y" which may be a hardenedsteel ring supported by or contained in the oil-tight extension 1*), toengage with the cam Z on the catches V thus releasing the catches andconsequently the clutch.

Many variations from the details of this clutch may be made whileretaining the principle and without departing from the spirit of theinvention, for example the pawls may take any of the forms shown inFigs. 1 and 2 or Figs. 5, 6, or 7. In the latter three cases the springsinserted in the pawls shown in Fig. 2 may be dispensed with, the actionof the balls or rollers, or centrifugal force being suflicient to keepthe said pawls in position. As further examples, if desirable the coneclutch may be dis pensed with and the actuator fitted to the member C, Cor 0*. Also the inclined portions to act on the balls G, G and Gr may bearranged to act directly upon the pawls withoutthe intervention of thesaid balls.

This clutch may be employed for any suitable use other than thatdescribed above and shown by the. drawings.

That I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis 1. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race, revoluble bearing members movable in said race,wedging members adapted to be projected against certain of the bearingmembers whereby the driving and driven members move in unison, clutchmembers for operating said wedging members to wedge said bearing membersin the race, and means interposed between said wedging members and saidclutch members to receive the pressure exerted by the latter andtransmit the same to the wedging members.

2. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race having recesses formed therein, revolublebearing members movable in said race, wedging members movably mounted inthe recesses in the race, clutch members for projecting said wedgingmembers toward the race to wedge said bearing members therein, and meansinterposed between said wedging members and said clutch members toreceive the pressure exerted by the latter and transmit the same to thewedging members.

3. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race, revoluble bearing members movable in said race,wedging members adapted to be projected against said bearing members towedge the latter in the race, a ball arranged in operative relation toeach wedging member, and means adapted to act against said ball wherebysaid wedging members operate to wedge the bearing members in the race.

4:. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race having recesses formed therein, a pawl movablyretained in each said recess, revoluble bearing members movable in therace, a ball arranged in operative relation to each of said wedgingmembers, and means for exerting pressure on said ball whereby thecorresponding pawl is moved toward the race and operates to wedge thebearing members therein.

5. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race, revoluble bearing members movable in said race,wedging members adapted to be projected against said bearing members towedge the same in the race, a ball mounted over each of said wedgingmembers, and axially movable clutch members adapted when moved togetherto exert pressure on said balls whereby said wedging members operate towedge the revoluble bearing members in the race.

6. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race having recesses formed therein, a pawl movablyretained in each of said recesses, revoluble bearing members movable insaid race, a ball movable in a recess over each of said pawls, and apair of telescoping clutch members one thereof having its inner surfaceinclined and adapted when the clutch members are engaged to exertpressure on said balls whereby the pawls are projected against therevoluble bearing members in the race.

7. In a clutch, .the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race, revoluble bearing members movable in said race,wedging members adapted to be projected toward the race to wedge thebearing members therein, a ball arranged in operative relation to eachof said wedging members, friction clutch members adapted to be movedaxially to exert pressure on said balls to project the wedging memberstoward the race and wedge the bearing members therein, and catchesadapted to automatically interlock when the friction clutch members havebeen engaged.

8. In a clutch, the combination of a driving and a driven member, aninterposed bearing race, revoluble bearing members movable in said race,wedging members carried by the race, a ball mounted over each of saidwedging members, friction clutch members adapted to be telescoped byaxial movement to act against said balls and operate said wedgingmembers to wedge the bearing members in the race, catches adapted toautomatically interlock when the friction clutch members have beenengaged, and means for releasing said catches upon separation of thedriving and driven members.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

BERTRAM H. PENN.

Witnesses:

G. A. MACKENZIE, N. M. WARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

